FOCUS:  New family memberships at Gaillard Center are hot

Charleston Gaillard Center

By Catherine Brack, special to Charleston Currents  |  The Charleston Gaillard Center is now offering a membership level for families to immerse children earlier in the arts at a price that is affordable for parents.

Families with children under the age of 12 that join will receive an array of benefits, ranging from a city-wide interactive passport book for each child to discounts on family-only performances to special event invitations for the whole family to enjoy.

Since the re-opening in October 2015, the Charleston Gaillard Center has provided many opportunities for families to enjoy the arts. With performances like Peppa Pig, the Disney Jr. Dance Party and the annual tradition of the Charlotte Ballet’s Nutcracker, families have experienced live stories from their favorite characters and created lasting memories.

Along with family-friendly performances, the Charleston Gaillard Center also offers a wide array of educational services for students and teachers in the Lowcountry. Our school programming annually attracts 25,000 students from the surrounding tri-county area.  We work with teachers and students in the schools to incorporate the upcoming performances into their curriculum, provide transportation to and from the center to bring students to free or reduced-fee performances, and return to the schools a few days after the ticked performance for cognitive evaluation and to get feedback on the experience.

We provide 12 opportunities each year for schools to attend a performance at the Gaillard, with two shows per date (10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.). Tickets cost $5 per student per performance, and are free to Title One schools. Seventy-one percent of our audience attending qualifies for free performances. The education performances are open to home-schooled children. Once announced, our education shows sell out within the first week.

In addition to our school performances, we also host theater camps during spring break and summer break. Our theater camp is immersive – campers, ages 5 to 14, start their week with a theme, and finish the week having written, cast, costumed, directed, set designed, promoted and acted in their original play. Our most recent play was “The History of The Jenkins Orphanage,” written, created and performed by 20 local school children with help from the Gaillard Center’s artist-in-residence, Charlton Singleton.

Family members have the chance to sign up for theater camps, dance camps and jazz orchestra camps at a reduced rate. Other membership benefits include:

• Two-day advance ticket purchase on family performances
• Four complimentary beverage vouchers
• Two complimentary parking vouchers
• Private back of house family tour (date TBA)
• Two complimentary tickets to an education performance (reservations required)
• 10 percent off Gaillard Center Camps (ages 5 to 14)
• Children’s Passport Activity Books (available September 2018)
• Receive one free ticket with purchase of two tickets to The Nutcracker on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
• Invitation to members-only Sweets with Santa event, featuring photos, and a member gift
• $15 off your membership at the South Carolina Aquarium
• Special events with Charleston County Public Library.

Family memberships are available on an annualized basis for $175 per year.  The membership benefits extend to two adults (parents, grandparents or guardians) and children 12 and under.

• To learn more, please call our membership department at 843-579-6452 or contact Gage Baxter at gbaxter@gaillardcenter.org

Catherine Brack is director of development at Charleston Gaillard Center.

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